Morada interchanges draw mixed reactions

MORADA - Knots of people crowded around maps laid out on tables in the Morada Middle School multipurpose room on Thursday night.

Zachary K. Johnson

MORADA - Knots of people crowded around maps laid out on tables in the Morada Middle School multipurpose room on Thursday night.

The maps showed a bird's-eye-view picture of the area around the Highway 99 interchanges at Eight Mile Road and Morada Lane. Proposed new interchanges were drawn over the existing maps.

Members of the public dragged their fingers along rooftops in Morada as they followed the path of proposed onramps and offramps on the map of proposed changes planners said would be needed to carry traffic as future population growth drives traffic.

A lot of the residents weren't happy about it.

"Just leave it alone," said Donna Augustin, 45, who has lived in Morada since 1999. The proposed changes would displace people from their homes and funnel more traffic into residential neighborhoods and past the middle school, making it less safe, she said. "They're changing our community."

She was one of about 250 people who had come to a workshop for the two proposed interchanges that night. It was held in advance of an environmental review of the proposals.

It would be more than a year before the final environmental document would be ready, and the design phase couldn't begin until the projects get funding, planners said.

Opponents of the Morada Lane interchange were both organized and vocal, but some neighbors saw a positive side.

It could make it safer getting on and off the freeway, said Jess Alonzo, 66, a resident of Morada for 27 years. "I've seen a lot of accidents there. I think it's going to help."

And some of the homes in the path are apartments some in Morada say contribute to crime in the area, including Barbara Lescisin, 79, a Neighborhood Watch block captain.

There are about 20 properties that would be affected by the Morada Lane interchange.

The projects are headed by the city of Stockton, but the California Department of Transportation is the lead agency on the environmental review.

The number of cars on Highway 99 between Morada Lane and Eight Mile Road is expected to grow to an average of 190,000 per day by 2035, project manager John Klemunes said. That's an increase from 60,000 measured in 2008. And traffic on both Morada Lane and Eight Mile Road is expected to climb, too.

The new interchanges would accommodate the anticipated traffic increase as Stockton grows, said Alex Menor, the city's project manager.

There will be a public hearing for the draft environmental review later this year, and the final report would be ready in 2014, he said. After that, there is no timetable. "It's all going to depend on funding."

The delay puts homeowners in the path of the proposed change in a tough spot, said Ernie Boutte, president of the Morada Area Association.